Western Force coach Michael Foley and captain Matt Hodgson have hailed their team for an "outstanding season" that saw them fall just short of a maiden finals appearance.

The Force's campaign ended with their 47-25 loss to the Brumbies at GIO Stadium on Friday, having travelled to Canberra hopeful of achieving the victory they needed to reach the play-offs, but they were nevertheless proud of the best season in the franchise's nine-year history. Foley set a target of eight victories this season, and they achieved nine wins to compare with four wins and one draw in 2013.

"While we're disappointed with that performance tonight, it's pretty hard for any one performance to be the defining factor in the season," Foley said after the game in Canberra.

"When you look at a season's work, there's a fair bit that goes into it and it would be fairly narrow to look at any one game to decide whether it was a great season or a bad one.I think the guys have been outstanding this season. They've won more games than any other Force team in the club's history. To win last week and have the chance to make the final this week was our second goal, and we fell short to a team that played very well.

"As much as we're disappointed now … they've taken a massive step towards things they could aspire to in the future."

Hodgson said the team had learned this season "how to win consistently".

"It's now just a case of learning how to play those big games like tonight, and we'll improve again next year," Hodgson said.